by Samantha Mason

They’re rodents, they’re badass, and they’re finally getting the respect they deserve.

That’s right, Mouse Guard, the six-issue series by David Peterson and published by Archaia Studios Press has been collected into a single hardcover graphic novel. Even better, according to a recent press release by ASP these furious balls of fur will be the feature of an upcoming book club.

Heidi MacDonald of The Beat has the skinny on the new hardbound collection, titled Mouse Guard: Fall 1152 and Doubleday Entertainment’s decision to showcase it through the Altiverse portion of the Science Fiction Book Club.

The Altiverse Science Fiction Book Club will delve into this illustrated story for their summer cycle beginning May 25^th but the book is also available in stores beginning this week.

The new hardcover collection is also purported to contain 12 whole pages of bonus material but no indication is given as to what it could be. Sketches? Interviews? Or dare we dream, perhaps a preview of the upcoming six-issue second series, Winter: 1152?

Among the questions that arise from this announcement, mayhap the most important is what this development means for the future of graphic novels. If a well-regarded book club is featuring Peterson’s work in its rotation, is this the harbinger for an increase in respect for the art form looming on the horizon? Are graphic novels becoming legitimized to society as a collective?

All those in favor, raise your paws.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 15th, 2007 at 4:31 pm and is filed under Comics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.